In prior-art parking brakes, the hand brake lever is mounted, in principle, rotatably at a stationary frame and is provided with a detent pawl for engaging a toothed segment in the pulled position of the brake lever. A cable line is linked to an arm of the hand brake lever, and the sheathing of this cable line is supported at a spaced location therefrom at the frame.
A parking brake of the above-mentioned type has become known from EP-A 0 040 574, in which a plate-like slide, which is guided along a tie rod and acts on a locking sleeve, is adjusted by the hand brake lever. This locking sleeve surrounds the tie rod, and the outer surface of the tie rod and the wall of the hole in the locking sleeve are provided with barb-like teeth acting in one direction only. A disk, which supports a compression spring acting against a shoulder of the locking sleeve, is stationarily seated at the free end of the tie rod.
This compression spring is to compensate a clearance that becomes established in the locking mechanism in the course of time. However, if the restoring force of the spring in the wheel brake is not sufficient to return the Bowden cable and consequently the tie rod into the starting position during the release of the hand brake because of external effects, e.g., icing or dirt, the locking sleeve is moved into a position unsuitable for the subsequent braking process because of the force of the compression spring along the tie rod.